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The US market fell into mood swings and closed in the red last week. On Friday, the disappointing sales by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (NASDAQ:RIMM) dragged the technology companies lower. For the week, the Dow index lost 155 points, or 1.58 per cent. This week the market will be tested by crucial data including September non-farm payrolls, final second-quarter gross domestic product and several other big economic reports.

On Friday, the Australian share market ended slightly higher as financials were up on the news ANZ planned to takeover ING business. The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index gained 12.1 points, or 0.26 per cent, to 4713.3 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 6.8 points, or 0.14 per cent, to 4714.8 points.
Key Economic Facts and Figures

Centrelink data for August shows a modest 0.9 per cent rise in Newstart payments, the slowest growth in the year since Lehman Brothers collapsed and the global financial crisis entered its worst phase. Since last October, unemployment rate has surged significantly, with the number of people claiming Newstart up nearly 31 per cent while the official unemployment rate has risen from 4.4 per cent to 5.8 per cent.

Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens appears at a Senate inquiry into the Government's economic stimulus package today. He told the Senate Economics References Committee that Australia's medium term prospects are good as the economy emerges from the global economic downturn, and has again signalled that interest will rise.

M&A News

OM Holdings (ASX:OMH) said it is in the process of being transformed into one of the world's biggest independent manganese companies after securing a A$294m deal to acquire a major stake in a world-class South African manganese project. OM Holdings will acquire 49.9 per cent of Tshipi Project from five non-related co-investors for 139.9 million OMH shares and a 20 per cent equity interest in Ntsimbintle Mining, a South African Black Economic Empowerment company which owns the remaining 50.1 per cent of the Tshipi Project, for A$49.2 million cash.

Nufarm (ASX:NUF) Limited said it has entered into a heads of agreement with Chinese state-owned Sinochem Corporation in relation to non-binding proposal for Sinochem to acquire all the issued ordinary shares in Nufarm by way of a scheme of arrangement for a price of A$13 per ordinary share. The company also posted a 42.1 per cent drop in full year net profit to A$79.88 million in the year ended July 31, compared to A$137.91 million for the previous year. The result was affected by a loss of A$79.8 million after tax associated with material items.

Former Troy Resources (ASX:TRY) chairman John Jones has launched a bid to take control of the company in order to stop the miner from heading into a dilutive capital raising. Mr Jones, the biggest shareholder of the goldminer, holds 14 percent of the miner and currently sits as a non-executive director.

Important Corporate News

Junior explorer Cazaly Resources (ASX:CAZ) has lost its battle with mining giant Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) for the control of the A$220 billion Rhodes Ridge iron ore deposit. The Perth Warden's Court rejected Cazaly's arguments that Rio had lost its right to hold on to the 3.26 billion-tonne project as it failed to renew its rights appropriately. A spokesman for Cazaly said last night the company's legal team was reviewing the decision and had yet to decide whether it would launch an appeal.

Myer Group Finance Ltd (ASX:MYF) released a prospectus today saying the department store Myer's initial public offering (IPO) would raise between A$1.94 billion and A$2.34 billion. Shares in Myer will be offered to the public at between A$3.90 and A$4.90, with the company to list on the market on November 2 and the business to have an enterprise value as high as A$3.16 billion.

Contact

Michelle Liang
Asia Business News Asia Bureau
Tel: +61-2-9247-4344
Email: michelle.liang@abnnewswire.net



Related Companies

Troy Resources Nl
      

Rio Tinto Limited
         

Research In Motion
      

Om Holdings Limited
         

Nufarm Limited
       

Myer Group Finance Limited
       

Cazaly Resources Limited
            


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